I’m an American living in the UK… here’s why universal healthcare isn’t all roses

• Americans in the UK shared their experiences with socialized healthcare
• They were “frightened” by the lack of preventative screenings and long waiting times.
• READ MORE: America’s Best Hospitals for 2024 REVEALED in New Report

Across the pond, many Americans look with envy at the fact that the UK has a universal healthcare system – while viewing the US system as greedy and ruthless.

But those who have actually moved to Britain and have direct experience of the National Health Service (NHS) paint a very different picture.

DailyMail.com spoke to US expats who felt “terrified” about missing important screenings due to extremely long wait times.

Many revealed that they were shocked that “free” health care was not actually free and were blinded by the high taxes and extra fees demanded by foreigners.

However, others told DailyMail.com it made them feel more financially secure and less anxious about seeking care.

It comes as the NHS faces dismal approval ratings from British citizens, with less than a quarter of people saying they are satisfied with care.

Britons’ main complaint is waiting times, which have reached record levels after the pandemic.

Andrea Jones, who lived in London for eight years, learned this first-hand.

The 38-year-old professional singer from California injured her vocal cords and was told she would have to wait six months for physical therapy.

Without it, she would not have been able to earn money and therefore had to pay for her private care out of her own pocket.

“I had to pay for someone myself because I didn’t have time to wait,” she told DailyMail.com.

Physiotherapy isn’t the only service facing long wait times.

It takes about four months to see a dentist.

And for elective surgeries like knee or hip replacements, UK patients can expect to wait an average of four months and up to two years – while the average wait time in the US is of a few weeks.

Additionally, recent NHS data showed that one in five patients waited up to six weeks after being referred for ‘urgent’ scans to detect cancer.

Despite this, Ms Jones noted that while each system has advantages and disadvantages, she is unsure whether it could still be covered by the NHS.

“I had that security of knowing that I could access and afford care,” she said.

A TikToker named Sean, who moved from the US to the UK in 2017, posted a TikTok in late 2022 in which he said that despite the misconceptions of other Americans and Brits, the NHS remains expensive, especially for The foreigners.

“The NHS is not free. It’s actually very expensive,” he said. “When I say the NHS is expensive, it’s expensive for the quality of service you get.”

Sean, who moved to the UK from the US in 2017, said one of the biggest misconceptions among Americans is that the NHS is truly “free”.

He noted that most Americans are unaware that the NHS is funded by taxes.

For example, someone earning £50,000 ($62,000) might be expected to pay 8% to 10% – £4,000 to £5,000 ($5,000 to $6,200) – although the exact rate varies.

Click here to resize this module

In the United States, health insurance is not tax-based but is paid either by the individual, their employer, or through a state-run program such as Medicaid.

“The NHS is not free. It’s actually very expensive,” Sean said in a 2022 TikTok video. “When I say the NHS is expensive, it’s expensive for the quality of service you get.”

Additionally, the UK has a smaller variety of prescription medications than the US, meaning patients sometimes get cheaper, less effective versions.

This is because the NHS negotiates prices with pharmaceutical companies and maintains a stricter budget, meaning fewer drugs are approved and made available to the public.

For example, Ms Jones noted that even if she had managed to find effective medication for her ADHD, she would have had fewer options in the UK than in the US if her medication had to be changed.

However, expats also had several advantages about healthcare in the UK. Ms Jones, for her part, said the NHS allowed her to more comfortably afford to see specialists who she otherwise could not afford to pay out of pocket on US insurance.

“I was just excited to have health care that I didn’t have to pay for, essentially,” she said. “I had a lot of things that I hadn’t really taken care of that I was able to take care of once I got there.”

Ms Jones estimates she had to pay an extra £1,000 ($1,200) as part of her visa, which was spread over two and a half years.

She noted that her GP in the UK was the first provider she saw who referred her for tests and surgery to diagnose endometriosis, a condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the the uterus was growing in other places near the abdomen and pelvis.

This leads to painful and heavy periods, as well as fertility problems.

“If I had to do this business (in the United States) as a freelancer, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it,” she said. “In the United States, I consulted a specialist, but I was never offered the procedure to diagnose endometriosis.”

Nicole, a mother of three from the United States, noted that she has had several positive experiences with the healthcare system.

One example she gave was an ambulance ride for her son fully covered and providing peace of mind.

However, she was “terrified” by the lack of preventive screening for diseases like cancer.

“As a woman, for me, preventive healthcare is the most important thing, and in the UK you can’t get breast cancer screening until you’re 50-53” , she said.

Nicole said she wanted to get a mammogram at age 42 because her grandmother died of breast cancer. However, although she had private insurance, she was not allowed to get tested.

“To me, the fact that there is little preventative care is really scary,” she said. “I’m grateful, but I’m just concerned about the preventative care side of the NHS and why so much is missing.”

Breast cancer screening recommendations in the United States also generally begin at age 50, although the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) last month suggested lowering that age to 40 .

On average, cancer is diagnosed earlier in the United States, with national figures suggesting an age of 66 in the United States and 70 in the United Kingdom.

Experts suggest this could be due to American screening for certain cancers at earlier ages. For breast cancer, US screening starts at age 40, while UK guidelines start at age 50.

And colorectal cancer screening, on the rise in the United States and the United Kingdom, begins at age 45 for Americans and at age 60 for the British.